Between Babel and Beast
Peter Leithart's "Between Babel and Beast" emerged from his concern that American Christians had lost sight of a distinctly Christian approach to politics, oscillating instead between uncritical nationalism and complete withdrawal from public life. Writing in the aftermath of debates over the Iraq War and during the Obama presidency, Leithart observed that many believers had either baptized American exceptionalism or retreated into privatized faith, missing the prophetic political vision that Scripture offers.
Leithart argues that Christian political engagement must navigate between the pride of Babel—the tower-building impulse to create human unity apart from God—and the Beast of Revelation—the idolatrous state that demands ultimate allegiance. Drawing extensively from biblical theology and Reformed political thought, he contends that the church's primary political task is not to Christianize America but to embody an alternative polis that bears witness to God's kingdom. The state has legitimate but limited authority, and Christians must resist both theocratic overreach and secular attempts to marginalize religious voices. Leithart develops a theology of political exile, arguing that Christians live as resident aliens who participate in earthly politics while maintaining primary citizenship in the heavenly city. He critiques both progressive Christianity's identification with liberal politics and conservative evangelicalism's fusion with Republican ideology, calling instead for a prophetic stance that judges all earthly powers by the standard of Christ's kingdom.
The book has remained influential among Reformed Christians seeking to articulate a third way beyond the usual options of Christian nationalism or political quietism. Leithart's biblical-theological method and his critique of American civil religion continue to resonate as debates over Christianity and politics intensify. Who should read this: Christians wrestling with how to engage politically without compromising their faith, particularly those in Reformed traditions interested in political theology. Readers seeking simple endorsement of either conservative or liberal politics will find Leithart's prophetic approach challenging and perhaps frustrating.